


She likes detective stories

by GoldObsidian



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: 6th season of the show, Actually this Bito Wladon is my Arrowverse version, ElongSue, ElongSue headcanons, English is my second language, F/M, One Shot, Ralph and Sue Dibny, Ralphie dreams about Sue, and I'm too shy for asking for a beta, arrowverse, my ElongSue headcanons, so sorry for the mistakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22243534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldObsidian/pseuds/GoldObsidian
Summary: ElongSue fanfic, Ralph Dibny/Sue Dearbon (kind of, implied I guess). The Flash CW. Happens between 5th and 6th seasons.After an interview with Sue's former boyfriend, Ralph thinks about her and he's shocked to notice he's starting to see her as something else than a missing persons case.
Relationships: Ralph Dibny/Sue Dearbon, Ralph Dibny/Sue Dibny
Kudos: 2





	She likes detective stories

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own anything, everything belongs to CW and DC.

It hadn't been easy, getting an appointment with Mr. Wladon. He was quite busy, being the head, in Washington, of the consulate of Modora, a tiny but wealthy republic in Eastern Europe. 

He was also the man whom Sue Dearbon had had her most serious relationship with, according to her parents.

Ralph had had to call to the consulate several times, but his secretary kept giving him the round around, because he was a nobody, until he decided to throw discretion away and say it was about Sue’s disappearance. After that, the secretary rushed to call him back to make an appointment.

Once he was, at last, at his magnificent (and maybe a bit pretentious) office, he got to study the guy. Bito Wladon was a handsome, well dressed and dark-haired man, with a fancily trimmed beard and almost as tall as Ralph himself. Obviously, that young lady was used to have only the finest in everything - clothes, jewels... and boyfriends.

"Mr. Dibny". He greeted, extending his hand to him; his English had a weird accent. "My secretary informed me that you want to talk about Susan Dearbon. I-I didn't know she was missing. I thought she was on a trip across Europe''.

Sue's parents had spread that excuse around for all the not-so-close friends, relatives and acquaintances for the sake of discretion. Starting a nationwide search when she could have just fled for her own will would have entailed a scandal for both the Dearbons and Sue herself.

"When was the last time you saw Miss Dearbon?"

"In July of last year, when we broke up. We went separate ways since then."

He sharpened his senses. Being dumped is a good motive for revenge.

"I know this could be a little personal to ask, but why did you break your relationship? Was it a mutual decision or...?”

Wladon seemed embarrassed but answered anyway.

" _She_ did break up, but it was my fault. I... proposed to her, I think before she was ready. Maybe I scared her. She said she was sorry but didn't want to tie herself down to anyone."

"Sorry to hear it", Ralph tried to sound sympathetic.

"I knew she didn't believe in marriage, but I had to try. She is the most amazing woman in the world, and I would have been the luckiest man if she had accepted me. But I doubt there’s someone so lucky. She never got too attached to anyone. She’s a free spirit".

For some reason, Ralph started to feel uneasy.

"Do you know if she had enemies, anyone who would want to harm her for some reason..."

"I don't think she has enemies; she is the kind of person who everybody likes. But she might have gotten into trouble".

"Trouble?", Ralph raised his eyes from his notebook. "Could you explain that?"

"Well, she has a thing for detectives".

He blinked in confusion.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I mean, she likes detective stories, mysteries. With passion. She has read all the books about mystery and crimes, and has watched every movie and show with detectives, especially the noir genre. Though her favorite are the ones of _The Thin Man_ series."

" _The Thin Man_?"

"Yes. You know, the classic films with William Powell and Myrna Loy. They are her favorite movies."

" _The Thin_ … all right". Ralph wrote the title on his notebook. He didn't know whether it would be useful but knowing his target's thoughts and preferences could help him to track her steps.

"She liked this detective thing so much that she liked to play it in the real life. She used to think her life as a mystery, adventurous story; and see herself as a detective amateur."

"Like Nancy Drew, you would say?", Ralph pointed out.

"Sort of", Wladon nodded with a smile. "She used to see hints for crimes or conspiracies everywhere and liked to follow the tracks she considered to be the most important, like it was an actual investigation", he recalled. "Her friends and I didn't mind that hobby of hers, it was one of her little eccentricities that made her so special. But now I think she might have run into something dangerous. Maybe, a real crime."

"I see", Ralph answered. "Do you remember something she could have said about those so-called 'investigations' of hers? Anything remarkable?" 

"I don't know, she liked to follow up so many seeming clues... I remember once she told me she thought there was a dark, criminal organization wherein the highest echelons were involved. I didn't pay her much attention; she was always with those conspiracy theories. I'd wish I had listened to her so I could provide you with more details. I don't know whether she was right or wrong, but I couldn't forgive myself if something has happened to her."

Should he follow up on that "dark organization" track? Maybe he should gather more information from other sources. Until that, it seemed too vague for centering his investigation on it. 

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Thank you for your time, Mr. Wladon."

Ralph was quite sure that Bito Wladon was not responsible in Sue Dearbon's disappearance. Husbands, boyfriends (including _former_ husbands or boyfriends) ... used to be the first suspects when a woman went missing, and usually not without a reason. Ralph's instincts didn't use to fail him. He used to know, just looking into the suspect's eyes, whether they were innocent or guilty. Many times, the husband or boyfriend _was_ the culprit, like Regan Gimlin.

But that was not the case. Wladon's eyes didn't show guilt nor fear. He seemed to be ambitious and condescending, sure, and there was something in his eyes that Ralph didn't like, but he felt it had nothing to do with Sue. He seemed truly worried about her, maybe a bit more than worried. If he had to, Ralph would had bet that he was still in love with her.

Maybe he didn’t like him simply because he was a politician. Ralph had never liked politicians.

He turned to leave, but Wladon called him:

"Mr. Dibny?"

"Yes?" He turned again to him.

"Please find her and make sure she's safe".

"I will", he promised.

His suspicions were correct: Wladon still loved his ex-girlfriend and couldn’t cope with having lost her. Ralph couldn't blame him, though. He would have felt the same if he were in his place. Not that he would have the chance of knowing how it would be like, _ever_. He never was able to make work his relationships with regular girls, so a top-class one like Sue Dearbon would never even look at him.

That night, he looked again into the file of his case. He took a photo of his target and looked to it for a while. It was a pretty recent one, maybe from a couple of months before she went missing.

He had to admit she was quite attractive. No, she was gorgeous: her dark hair framed an angel face, and she had beautiful blue eyes and a cheerful, sweet smile. Her features were classy and somehow fragile, the kind that made you want to wrap her in your arms forever, to protect her. And something in her eyes was inviting and defying at the same time.

"A free spirit", Wladon had said.

The kind of girl who could drive any man crazy.

The kind of girl who could become any man's dream.

"She has a thing for detectives..."

He shook his head. What the heck was he thinking? Those thoughts were out of character for him. He was a professional, and she was his target. Nothing more.

He would have to be careful or would end up like the guy from that classic movie he watched ages ago... _Laura_ , it was called. In that movie, a detective investigates the murder of a pretty, classy woman (not very different of Sue Dearbon), and he obsesses so much over her that he ends up falling in love with her memory...

(Later, it was revealed that she's alive, but that was not the point).

Sue Dearbon was not dead, he could feel it. She was alive somewhere, but she surely was in trouble, like Wladon said. Why else had she vanished with no trace, nor telling a thing to her worried parents.

She was alive somewhere, waiting to be found. Waiting to be _rescued_.

And he was the right person to do it.

"She likes detective stories"...

He searched for _The Thin Man_ first movie and found it in one of those TV on demand channels. The main characters, played by Powell and Loy, were Nick and Nora Charles, a married couple who investigated mysteries together. The story was a little predictable and Ralph solved the crime much before the end of the movie, but he liked it. It was quite funny, and the Charles' relationship was couple goals.

But later, when he went to sleep, he had quite a weird dream. He was in _The Thin Man_ universe, he was Nick Charles, and Sue Dearbon was Nora, his wife. And, just like the Charles, they lived an adventurous life, investigating mysteries together. And they were madly in love.

He woke up abruptly, sweating on his futon. Even more than usual.

"What the..." he muttered astonished. "Stop with this nonsense, Ralphie. _Now_ ", he ordered himself.

That dream was totally stupid, of course. But somehow it made appear a strange feeling of longing in Ralph's soul that didn't go away for a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> This oneshot is inspired on one of my tumblr posts: https://justcalldibs.tumblr.com/post/189208375752/some-thoughts-about-ralph-dibnys-feelings-for-sue
> 
> TRIVIA:  
> \- Bito Wladon, in DC comics, is the ruler of Modora and the villain Sonar. In The Elongated Man miniseries (1992) he's the main antagonist and in Justice League Europe issues #46 to #50 he even tries to steal Sue away from Ralph to make her his consort.  
> \- It is stated that Ralph and Sue Dibny characters are inspired in Nick and Nora Charles, from The Thin Man book (by Dashiell Hammett, 1934) and its subsequent film adaptations, starring William Powell and Myrna Loy.
> 
> My headcanon is that Arrowverse!Wladon is a notable politician (in US not Modora) who was a former Sue's boyfriend and who is still in love with her, and when Sue finally appears and starts a relationship with Ralph, he tries everything to get her back. Even becoming the villain Sonar and fighting TF (though there's also a lot of ambition and political fanaticism in his motivations, kind of 'make Modora great again' lol). Bito Wladon represents the wealthy, luxurious and shallow world that Sue wants to leave behind (her past), in contrast to Ralph, who is Sue's future, full of adventure and passion.


End file.
